Sport | Motorsport |
---|---|
Competition | Formula One |
Awarded for | The most successful British or Commonwealth driver in Formula One in a particular year. |
History | |
First winner | Jack Brabham (1959) |
Most wins | Lewis Hamilton (12) |
Most recent | Lewis Hamilton (2023) |
The Hawthorn Memorial Trophy is an annual award honouring the achievements of a British or Commonwealth driver in Formula One motor racing. [1] [2] The Royal Automobile Club (RAC) launched it on 1 May 1959 as a memorial for Mike Hawthorn, [3] a racing driver who retired immediately after becoming the first British Formula One World Drivers' Champion in the 1958 season as a result of the death of his teammate Peter Collins. [4] [5] The gilt and silver trophy, [6] created by K. Lessons of the Goldsmiths Company in 1960, [7] [6] is mounted on a wooden pedestal and features chequered flags and the Union Flag. [8] It is presented to the most successful British or Commonwealth driver of the previous year's Formula One World Championship. [9] The trophy was initially presented at an annual ceremony held at the RAC's headquarters and club in London, [10] [11] but Motorsport UK currently awards it at the following year's British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit. [12] [13] The award is considered prestigious in the motor racing world. [9] [14]
The inaugural winner was the Australian driver Jack Brabham who won the 1959 championship. He went on to win the 1960 title, and thus, became the first competitor to retain the accolade. [1] The first British winner was Stirling Moss for the 1961 season, [15] [16] and the inaugural recipient from New Zealand was Denny Hulme after winning the 1967 championship. [17] [18] The only Canadian recipient was Jacques Villeneuve following his winning the championship in the 1997 season. [16] [19] The least successful winner over the course of a season was Jenson Button, who finished in ninth position in the 2005 standings. [20] [21] British racers have won the trophy fifty-three times, followed by Australians with eight victories, New Zealanders with three wins and one Canadian winner. Of the nineteen recipients, all but seven have gone on to win the World Championship, with a total of 25 wins between them. [17] The winner of the 2023 edition was Lewis Hamilton, who finished third in that season's World Drivers' Championship. [22]
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John Michael Hawthorn was a British racing driver. He became the United Kingdom's first Formula One World Champion driver in 1958, whereupon he announced his retirement, having been profoundly affected by the death of his teammate and friend Peter Collins two months earlier in the 1958 German Grand Prix. He died in a road accident three months after retiring.
John Norman Surtees, was an English Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. On his way to become a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, he won his first title in 1956, and followed with three consecutive doubles between 1958 and 1960, winning six World Championships in both the 500 and 350cc classes. Surtees then made the move to the pinnacle of motorsport, the Formula One World Championship, and in 1964 made motor racing history by becoming the Formula One World Champion. To this day Surtees remains the only person to have won World Championships on both two and four wheels. He founded the Surtees Racing Organisation team that competed as a constructor in Formula One, Formula 2 and Formula 5000 from 1970 to 1978. He was also the ambassador of the Racing Steps Foundation.
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